NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
Education Materials Collection
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection
Expedition Education Modules
Careers Connections
Resources and Links
The Education Vision for the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer is that this is the ship upon which learners of all ages embark together on scientific voyages of exploration to poorly-known or unexplored areas of the global ocean. Learners will participate in innovative ways as ocean explorers in breakthrough discoveries leading to increased scientific understanding and enhanced literacy about our ocean world.
To help fulfill this mission, the Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection was developed to encourage educators and students to become personally involved with the voyages and discoveries of the Okeanos Explorer— America’s first Federal ship dedicated to ocean exploration. The Education Materials Collection is being presented in three volumes: Volume 1: Why Do We Explore? (reasons for ocean exploration), Volume 2: How Do We Explore? (exploration methods), and, to be developed, Volume 3: What Do We Expect to Find? (recent discoveries that give us clues about what we may find in Earth’s largely unknown ocean). In the future, additional guides will be added to the Education Materials Collection to support the involvement of citizen scientists.
Education materials for each Volume begin with a lesson that guides students into deeper inquiry and provides educators with background information on the main topic area. A Diving Deeper section, offers additional information on some aspects and the subsequent package of lessons guides further inquiries. Some of the lessons provided have been adapted from lessons previously developed for various NOAA Ocean Explorer expeditions, while others have been created specifically for the Okeanos Explorer education initiative. Whenever possible, hands-on activities are included that involve manipulations other than paper-and-pencil exercises or Web-based research. The reason for doing this is that field science, and exploration in particular, depend heavily upon technology and problem-solving skills needed to create, use, and advance new technology.
Each lesson is correlated with National Science Education Standards, and also with the Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts. Supplementary correlations will be provided as new national-level standards and frameworks are adopted. These correlations do not necessarily mean that a particular lesson fully develops the correlated standards, principles, or concepts. Rather, correlations indicate that an educator may use the information in the lesson as a context or point of departure for addressing those standards.
Lessons also include links to other relevant lesson plans from the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, as well as the Ocean Explorer Web site. Educators who use the Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection should regularly check the Okeanos Explorer Education section for the latest information about new education offerings and professional development opportunities.
A particularly dynamic way to keep up with the latest activities aboard America’s Ship for Ocean Exploration is the Okeanos Explorer Atlas, which provides a map-based index to information about every expedition.
Welcome aboard!
Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection
Volume 1: Why Do We Explore?
Why Do We Explore? Keynote Address (3.6 Mb)
Gulf of Mexico Expedition 2012
Mid-Cayman Rise Expedition 2011
Galápagos Rift Expedition 2011
INDEX 2010: Indonesia-USA Deep-Sea Exploration of the Sangihe Talaud Region
Expedition Education Modules are designed as an education unit to share the excitement of daily at-sea discoveries and the science behind NOAA’s major ocean exploration expeditions. Each module contains an Expedition Purpose, Lessons, Multimedia Discovery Missions, OceanAGE Career Connections, and Other Resources and Links. Click on the expeditions above to visit its corresponding Expedition Education Module.
Careers Connections
Interact with some of the talented explorers who study the ocean world. From underwater pilots to research scientists, these marine mentors will provide students with first-hand knowledge of exciting careers through their live interviews, profiles, and mission logs. Join us for a series of live webchats, interactive video webcasts, and text-based forums with several ocean explorers.
Resources and Links
A list of other resources and links related to
ocean exploration aboard the Okeanos Explorer, including online presentations by ocean explorers.
For More Information Contact:
Paula
Keener
Education Director
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
